campjupiterfandomcom-20200213-history
Half-Bloods and Gods read The Lightning Thief
Chapter 1 Percy's POV Brinnggg! I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock ringing. Really alarm clock? I said in my head. I groaned and just offed it. Suddenly my mom knocked on my door. "Percy wake up," she said. "It's August 18,your birthday!" I suddenly felt energy go through my body and I jolt awake. "Your friends are gonna come in about 30 minutes,better hurry up before-" she didn't get to finish her sentence as I made a frantic dash for the bathroom. I grabbed a random toothbrush and started brushing my teeth,at the same time,got the water from the bathtub to hit me with a SPLASH!. I wet his face with water I summoned from the sink and finish brushing my teeth. I made a mad run toward my room to change into better clothes. I finished in a heart-breaking minute. The doorbell rang. Oh gods please let it be Poseidon or Annabeth..... I thought. I opened the door. Guess who it was? ............................. .................................... ........................................... ................................................. ......................................................... "Happy Birthday Percy!" Paul said. I smiled and hugged him. Paul is my second step-dad. My first step-dad was Gabe Ugliano,But he went missing when I was 12 after I returned from a quest to retrieve Zeus' lightning bolt. "Percy who is it?" My mom called from the kitchen. "It's Paul!" A few seconds later,she appeared at the front door and hugged Paul. "Just came from work." he said. "Percy can you bring him to the living room and let him wait there?" I followed my mom's orders and gestured to Paul to follow me. An hour later,the doorbell rang. "It's already 8:30 A.M." I said. Exactly on time. I opened the door. A crowd of about 200 people were outside my house,causing cars to halt. "Happy Birthday Percy!" They shouted in unison. At the front was Annabeth,Chiron and Poseidon. Behind them were the seven of the prophecy,and the rest was a mixture of demigods,gods,nymphs and satyrs. "Thanks guys." I said as I wiped a tear from my face. My mom came to the front door again and said "Percy what's the commotion-" and left herself gaping at the site outside. "Sally," Poseidon said, "We'll take care of this." The gods snapped their fingers. Nothing happend. "We just ajusted the Mist a bit and provided more space in your living room enough for 200 people." Zeus said proudly. As they were about to enter I cut them off. "Where are the Romans?" "Err...." Frank started. "There are too many of them so we only brought the Greeks." "Well then bring them in!" shouted Hades. "We won't be able to fit them all in!" and the Big Three started bickering....again. "Excuse me...But we may be able to make an exception this time,considering this is the Hero of Olympus." Everyone directed their attention to three old ladies. "The- The Fates...." said Hazel. "We allowed the mortals to be brought to Olympus,you may celebrate there everytime it is his birthday." A loud cheer drowned the noise of cars honking and drivers screaming "I'm late for work!" The gods,with just a snap of their fingers,teleported us (And strangely the Romans too were teleported) Into Olympus. I sighed and just said, "Well Happy Birthday to me!" Everyone cheered,and carried me all the way to the throne room to open my presents. Let's check my list: A special hunting knife from Artemis,a book about Greek and Roman mythology from Athena,Two skeletons at my disposal from Nico,Hazel and Hades/Pluto,A stuffed teddy bear with it's head cut off (Courtesy of Octavian),and etc. I was about to say,Let's chow! When 7 books appeared out of thin air and hit me right on the head. I groaned painfully as I got up,people surronding the books saying stuff I could make out like: ...Do you know what those are?,.......See that? I'm sure you know what that is.... I pushed past the crowd of people and got this piece of paper attached to one of the books. I read aloud, "Dear Perseus Jackson,Please do not do anything horrible to these books,we give this to you as a present,and to remind you of your past adventures,Sincerely,The Fates." Everyone was gaping at me,so out of the suspen I got the first book in the pile. Now I understood what everyone was talking about. I read aloud, "Percy Jackson and The Olympians,Book One:The Lightning Thief." Chapter 2 Leo's POV Ok. I admit that Percy is realy awesome. He beat a giant with a statue? Come on and teach me already! He beat Porphyrion in hand-to-hand combat? This guy is just epic. "Who wants to read?" said Percy. "Me!" Percy handed me the book and I read the first chapter. "I Accidentally Vaporize my Pre-Algebra Teacher," I read. "'Accidentally'?" Thalia asked. "It was an accident!" Percy shouted in response. Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood. All the demigods nodded in agreemeant. "True,true." one Greek said. If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: Close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life. Annabeth just sighed. "Didn't happen when we tried that." Being a half-blood is dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways. "But then you might be able to get into Elysium!" said Hades and Nico in response. Thalia snickered at them. "You guys do know you're talking to a book?" If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think its fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened. But if you recognize yourself in these pages—if you feel something stirring inside—stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before they sense it too, and they'll come for you. "Very dramatic Percy!" said Annabeth. Don't say I didn't warn you. My name is Percy Jackson. "Now we'll know what he really thinks of us." Nico said. "Well,I think of Nico and Thalia as my cousins,Annabeth as my girlfriend (Annabeth blushed at this),Zeus and Hades as my uncles,Poseidon and Paul my dads,and the others just,well,family." Percy said. I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York. Am I a troubled kid? "Yes!" Everyone in the group said in unison. "Really nice ways to show you care for me...." Percy mumbled. Yeah. You could say that. "He even admits it!" Annabeth said as Percy grumbled about them. "Oh come on it can't be that bad right?" Annabeth asked and hugged Percy. I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan— twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff. "Sounds nice!" Said the children of Hermes/Mercury sarcasticly I know—it sounds like torture. "Does not!" Annabeth and Athena protested. Percy earned some glares from the Athena cabin. Most Yancy field trips were. But Mr. Brunner, "Isn't that what you first called Chiron when you arrived at Camp?" Annabeth asked."Yeah,Really nice when your teacher is half man and half horse." Prcy responded. Our Latin teacher was leading this trip, so I had hopes. "Woah you learned Latin before you even got to Camp Jupiter?" I asked Percy. He just shrugged and nodded. Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armor and weapons, "Greek armor and weapons,Kelp Brain!" Thalia shouted. Percy looked like it was pure torture. So he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep. "Why would you fall asleep during any class?" Athena asked. "'Cause lectures are BOORING!" everyone (except Athena and her children of course) shouted. I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble. Boy was I wrong. "Percy,You actually are the essence of trouble." Annabeth said and Percy started banging his head on the floor out of embaressment. See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but of course I got expelled anyway. Everyone laughed. "And you aimed for...?" Apollo said trying to hold back from laughing. "Nothing...except an annoying group of kids who kept laughing at this statue of a guy with a long beard." Percy said and everyone laughed again. And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim. And the time before that... Well, you get the idea. "Once we take a break I wanna hear more!" Hermes said and Apollo, Ares, Poseidon, Connor, Travis and Hephaestus nodded. "Okay,learn from the master of failure!" Percy said proudly. "Boys." Artemis mumbled and Athena and Thalia nodded their heads in agreement. This trip, I was determined to be good. "You're a demigod...it's impossible for you to be good when you're dyxlesia..." muttered Annabeth under her breath. All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, "Ugh! She was too ugly to get fixed!" Aphrodite exclaimed. And her children,strangely Piper too,nodded in agreement. hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich. "Horrible combination for food..." Hestia said. Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled. "Thanks Perce,you're a great friend!" Grover said sarcastically and Percy shrugged. He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria. Everyone laughed. "Way to blow your cover,Goat Boy!" Thalia said while laughing "What? They were good!" Grover said blushing. Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation. The headmaster had threatened me with death by in-school suspension Hermes, Apollo, Connor and Travis all let out a small gasp. "What?!" Athena asked. "In-school suspension,It's World War || all over again!" cried Travis,and everyone started laughing. if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip. "BORING!" People yelled. "I'm going to kill her," I mumbled. "Do it!" Ares said. "I'll throw her into the Fields of Punishment if she dies,favour for my favorite nephew." Hades said as Percy smiled. Grover tried to calm me down. "It's okay. I like peanut butter." He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch. "That's it." I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat. "Boo,you should have let him fight!" Ares said as Grover backed up from the god. "You're already on probation," he reminded me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens." Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there. In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into. Mr. Brunner led the museum tour. He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery. It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years. "Older than that...." Zeus said. He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, steel, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye. "At least you're trying,"Annabeth said and Percy smiled at her. "But then you ARE still bad at school." Percy's smile turned into a frown. Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. "Harlys are my ride! Not any teachers!" Ares said. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown. "Probably caused by this Mrs. Dodds." Poseidon said. "Wait! She's married?" Aphrodite asked. "It's just a cover name." Percy said. From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn. "New name for Nico!" Thalia said happily and started to chant "Devil Spawn". She would point her crooked finger at me and say, "Now, honey," real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month. "You poor poor thing." Hermes said. Percy started to act as if he were really poor. One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right." "Wow Grover,Lord of the Wild and you might have gotten Percy to know that he was a demigod." I told him and he just blushed. Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art. Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, "Remind me to send Alecto to this Nancy and make her go nuts." Hades said as Thanatos appeared and brought out his Ipad. "Noted." and I turned around and said, "Will you shut up?" It came out louder than I meant it to. The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story. "Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?" My face was totally red. I said, "No, sir." "Like the time you and Annabeth kissed-" Connor was cut off as Annabeth gave him a karate chop from the back. Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents? I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?" The elder Gods shuddered at the mention of that memory of that experience. "Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied.' "And he did this because ..." "Well..." I racked my brain to remember. "Kronos was the king god, "GOD?!" Zeus said as his master bolt appeared in his hand. (At the same time,a storm hit Spain.) "Peace my siblings," Poseidon said while on his throne. "Chiron will correct the boy,I swear on the River of Styx." "He better." Zeus grumbled as his master bolt disappeared. And—" "God?" Mr. Brunner asked. "See?" Poseidon said. "Titan," I corrected myself. "And ... he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters—" "Because i'm amazingly awesome," Zeus said "I am the king GOD!" "Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me. "—and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continued, "and the gods won." "Because of me!" Ares said."Because we're amazing!" Apollo corrected. The demigods veterans from the Titan War looked at each other knowing that this specific piece of history is destined to repeat itself. Some snickers from the group. Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'" "And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?" "Busted!" Hermes and his children shouted. "Busted," Grover muttered. "Shut up," Nancy hissed her face even brighter red than her hair. At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears. I thought about his question, and shrugged. "I don't know, sir." "Maybe if you get a job application for being a teacher.." Athena said. "I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, "Mustard wasn't invented yet!" Zeus shouted. which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?" The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses. "Don't all boys?" Artemis asked and Thalia nodded. "Not really Lady Artemis-" Frank started and was turned into a weasel. People gasped at the site of the child of Mars now an animal,only for him to turn back into human and start laughing at them all. Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson." I knew that was coming. I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?" Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go— intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything. "Older than that me actually...he was a child of Kronos so older than Zeus." Athena said. "You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me. "About the Titans?" "About real life. And how your studies apply to it." "Oh." "What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson." "Harsh,Chiron." Connor and Travis said together. I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard. I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted: "What ho!'" and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshiped, "I can do that too!" exclaimed Athena. But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C— in my life. No—he didn't expect me to be as good; he expected me to be better. And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly. I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the steel, like he'd been at this girl's funeral. "Probably was,seeing how he trained almost everyone." Zeus said. He told me to go outside and eat my lunch. The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue. Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York State had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, and wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in. "Wait...Christmas...." said Zeus,and he looked at Poseidon and mouthed: Master Bolt. Poseidon's eyes widened and he just nodded. Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, "Sounds like a child of Hermes." Apollo commented and looked at Hermes who shook his head. "She ain't mine,'cause it says 'trying'." Hermes said. and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing. Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from that school—the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere. "Smart." Apollo said and Hermes nodded. "Detention?" Grover asked. "Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean—I'm not a genius." Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?" People laughed and Grover blushed. "All satyrs are the same." Dionysis said and took a drink of the diet Coke in his hands. I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it. I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home. She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me. "Awwwwwwwww" the girls cooed and Sally patted her son's back as Percy blushed a little. Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized cafe table. "Nice." Annabeth said. I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends—I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists—and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap. "Oooooooooh food fight,still considered a war!" Ares said and threw his hands in the air. "Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos. "Ewwwwwwww!" Aphrodite cringed. I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper." But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears. I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!" Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us. Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see—" "—the water—" "—like it grabbed her—" "Cool!" I said. I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again. soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester. "Now, honey—" "I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks." Everyone in the throne room looked at Percy. "Never guess your punishment!" Hermes said and the Greek and Roman children of his nodded in agreememt. That wasn't the right thing to say. "Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said. "Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pushed her." "Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww" the girls cooed. "What a good friend" Aphrodite said and made a mental note to give Grover a good future later. I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death. She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled. "I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said. "But—" "You—will—stay—here." "Creepy and mean,Considering she's a monster." Hermes commented. "You don't know the half of it!" Percy said. Grover looked at me desperately. "It's okay, man," I told him. "Thanks for trying." "Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "Now." Nancy Bobofit smirked. I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare. "It's not the looks he gives his enemies that scare me," Annabeth said "It's when you get Riptide out and start using it." Everyone nodded in agreement. Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on. How'd she get there so fast? I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things. "I have a good feeling that it's not the ADHD." Sally said. I wasn't so sure. I went after Mrs. Dodds. Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, "I did." Grover said. but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel. I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall. Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop. "Probably not." Poseidon said. But apparently that wasn't the plan. I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section. Except for us, the gallery was empty. "No witnesses,just fight!" Ares said hoping for some action. Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling. "Growling?" Zeus asked. Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it... "Probably did.." muttered Annabeth. "You've been giving us problems, honey," she said. I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes, ma'am." She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?" The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil. She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me. "Wrong,she is." said Nico. I started to wonder how a midget pre-algebra teacher can be that bad. I said, "I'll—I'll try harder, ma'am." "That's not the right answer Percy." Grover said and shuddered. Thunder shook the building. "We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain." I didn't know what she was talking about. All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm Everyone laughed and Hermes high-fived Percy. Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book. "Percy it's a good book!" Annabeth said. "I dont like reading..." Percy muttered. "Well?" she demanded. "Ma'am, I don't..." "Your time is up," she hissed. Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons. "YOU SENT A FURY TO KILL HIM!" Poseidon yelled at Hades and a cruise ship nearly went down in the Atlantic region. "And what if I did?" Hades challenged him. "I'll send you to Tartarus!" Poseidon said. "I won't allow you into the Underworld!" Hades replied. "I will keep you in a prison under the sea for all eternity!" Poseidon said and San Fransisco had just been hit by anEarthquake. "Oh." Hades said and didn't argue because he didn't feel like it. Then things got even stranger. Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand. "What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air. Percy smiled. Mrs. Dodds lunged at me. With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword—Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day. "Riptide." Percy said and smile as he took out his pen and clicked it. Percy was holding his best weapon and a dangerous piece of celestial bronze. Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes. mMy knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword.' "Wimp." Ares muttered and Poseidon didn't do anything because he was clutching his trident and was as pale as a ghost as was Sally and Paul. She snarled, "Die, honey!" "You already blew your cover,so stop saying that!" joked Nico. And she flew straight at me. Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword. "What a demigod would do when in danger: swing the sword!" Piper said sarcasticlly. The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. Hisss! "You killed a fury on the first swing?" Ares asked and gave Percy a high-five and Hades narrowed his eyes at Percy. Poseidon,Sally and Paul started to breath easier and their colors were coming back to them. Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me. The half-bloods shivered. I was alone. There was a ballpoint pen in my hand. Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me. My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something. "No such things as those.." Demeter said as Percy shrugged. Had I imagined the whole thing? I went back outside. It had started to rain. Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt." "The Mist." Appllo grumbled to himself. I said, "Who?" "Our teacher. Duh!" I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about. "Now you look stupid!" Ares said. She just rolled her eyes and turned away. I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was. He said, "Who?" But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me. "Satyrs are terrible liars." Dionysus said. "Especially Goat Boy here." Thalia said and everyone laughed. "Not funny, man," I told him. "This is serious." Thunder boomed overhead. I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved. I went over to him. He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson." "Only Chiron." Annabeth said. I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it. "Sir," I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?" He stared at me blankly. "Who?" "The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher." He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?" "Chiron is an excellent liar." said Travis. "Anyways who's next to read the next chapter?" I asked. "Me next Leo!" said Poseidon. Chapter 3 Poseidon's POV "I'm one of Percy's dads,I should read next!" I shouted. Leo Valdez,Son of Hepheastus,Nervously gave the book to me. "Three Old Ladies Knit The Socks of Death." There was a pause. Then Octavian shouted something that sounded like, "Stupid Greeks!" but came out as something like, "Stew pit Grades!" earning him a bunch of stares. I continued. I was used to the occasional weird experience,but usually they were over quickly. "Oh really,like the time you accidently got into a dodgeball fight with a bunch of giants?" joked Annabeth. This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle. "You think that your best friend is a hallucination?" said Grover,acting hurt. For the rest of the school year,the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me. The students acted as if they were totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr-a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip-''' "The Mist,makes us look really stupid." said Percy. '''had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas. Hdjdi WIP Category:Fanfiction Category:Blue Surge N o o b Category:Commaner Force Rookie